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Artificial nose sniffs out terrorists

Published 25 January 2010

German researchers develop A cheap detector that responds instantly to TATP in the atmosphere; at the heart of the device are three quartz rods, each 3 millimeters long and 40 micrometers wide, which are made to vibrate by applying an alternating voltage; any TATP in the air bonds to chemicals coating the rods, causing their resonant frequency to change

German scientists have come up with a system that can sniff out terrorists by capturing the smell of explosives. The artificial nose promises to make it much easier to detect the explosive triacetone triperoxide, OneIndiareports.

The device could be installed in the doorways of buses, trains, and airports to sound an alarm if someone carrying TATP crosses the threshold. The explosive can be made using easily obtainable domestic chemicals and has explosive power similar to TNT.

Siegfried Waldvogel, an organic chemist at the University of Bonn, Germany, said, however, that TATP’s high vapor pressure at ambient temperatures makes it hard to hide. The vapor diffuses through materials such as plastic bags and into the surrounding air, but the current method for detecting it is time-consuming, as air samples have to be sent to a lab for tests.

Now, Waldvogel and his colleagues have developed a cheap detector that responds instantly to TATP in the atmosphere. At its heart are three quartz rods, each 3 millimeters long and 40 micrometers wide, which are made to vibrate by applying an alternating voltage.

Any TATP in the air bonds to chemicals coating the rods, causing their resonant frequency to change. Each rod is coated with a different chemical — a phenylene dendrimer, a cyclodextrin, and sodium cholate — and each changes its rod’s resonant frequency in a different way. It is the combination of three changes that reveals TATP’s presence.

In tests, the device was able to discriminate between the explosive and similar gases, sensing it at levels of 1 part per million.

Explosives expert Sidney Alford of Alford Technologies in Chippenham, United Kingdom, said: “There could be an enormous demand for such a device. TATP is used both as a main charge and as a detonator in terrorist bombs, so even if it is only being used to initiate another explosive, you will still be able to sense it.”

—read more in Daniel Lubczyka et al., “Simple and Sensitive Online Detection of Triacetone,” Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical 143, no. 2 (7 January 2010): 561-66 (sub. req.)

Research aims to improve airport security

Published 25 January 2010

From body-part censors to cameras that recognize faces, Carnegie Mellon's CyLab is working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns; CMU's Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space

The underwear bomber’s thwarted attempt to blow up a Christmas Day flight jeopardized President Barack Obama’s plans to close Guantanamo Bay prison, refueled advocacy concerns about passenger privacy, and forced Yang Cai to revisit an algorithm that identifies the curvature of a female breast.

Sitting in a Carnegie Mellon University office surrounded by plaster of Paris molds of the human figure, Dr. Cai explained how his algorithm could put to rest qualms about overexposure from 3-D body scanners at security checkpoints. His algorithms measure the human frame and identify the breast and genitalia areas. The system then automatically blurs those regions, blacks them out with a bar or replaces the features with dummy human parts. “Every man could be Arnold Schwarzenegger, and every woman could be Marilyn Monroe,” he said.

Airport security, however, has never been a place for fantasy. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Erich Schwartzel writes> that the holiday scare and recent news that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to deploy 450 full-body scanners nationwide have government officials planning for legislation and passengers preparing for lines.

Privacy questions

Everyone is worried about who’s looking at what. Two researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab are working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns. Cai’s research offers an automatic censor for certain body parts and the CyLab Biometrics Center’s programs recognize faces and irises.

Despite the fact that Cai’s system blocks out private parts, it will identify an object hidden around those regions.

Cai, who founded CMU’s Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space.

His research, started in 2000 and published six years later, uses “intrinsic landmarks” to identify the body’s regions of interest. The unit of measure is the human head. After that size is determined, the system knows that the breast region is one-head-size down from the chin, and can map out the rest of the body from there. “It’s instinctive computing,” he said. “We use one object to measure another object.”

Iris scans

Downstairs at the CyLab is the Biometrics Center, which permits visitors in the door only after scanning their iris (the center’s director, professor Marios Savvides, also has a key.) That same kind of iris scan technology is seen by Dr. Savvides and his twenty student assistants as a viable and eventual alternative to fallible security methods, such as body scanners and behavioral analysts.

The problem is that iris scans work now only with highly cooperative subjects who strike the right pose in the right lighting for the iris to be picked up. A machine designed to mimic an airport metal detector sits in the back room. Savvides’ students double as involuntary models.

As each walks through the machine, his or her face is illuminated in infrared and the iris is captured by the camera. The machine matches the iris with those stored in its database. The computer identifies the subject and says, “Nice to see you.”

Savvides sees the eventual possibility of this technology identifying bad guys whose irises have been stored.

These, however, are compatible guinea pigs who also need a good grade. What about suspects actively avoiding the camera? Those are technologies that the lab is “at the edge of,” Savvides said. That includes a camera that finds a face and can follow it as it moves up to sixty feet away. He is also working on a system that identifies irises from a distance for the Department of Defense, which could take about a year to develop.

Research aims to improve airport security

Published 25 January 2010

From body-part censors to cameras that recognize faces, Carnegie Mellon's CyLab is working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns; CMU's Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space

Cameras with a far-reaching radius can help to identify a potential terrorist before he reaches the scanners at a security checkpoint, which Savvides calls “the last failure point.” Long-range cameras could track and identify a suspect before he or she gets close to security or soldiers.

The lab mostly works with government contracts, although it had more industry work before the recession, said Savvides.

Face mapping

The team is working with the FBI to map out the human face to help with image profiling. They currently have seventy-nine facial points identified, with the hope of using them as a template for a system that can recognize a face that appears nervous or finicky.

Schwartzel writes that, ironically, it is the most ostensible and human traits that still trip the technology — things such as facial hair or eyeglasses. Savvides wants to work toward a technology that recognizes if the image-captured person is scarred or wearing a hat. Cai’s work also is in the research phase. His projects were funded by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office.

Once a new technology is ready, the TSA review process can take several years, said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. Technology is tested at a facility at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and, if approved, is taken on as part of a pilot program at select airports across the United States.

Whole-body imagers were first deployed in airports in Phoenix in 2007. The TSA has purchased 150 scanners and will buy another 300 to be distributed sometime this year.

By comparison, Pittsburgh’s airport security looks decidedly low-tech. Davis, though, said the airport’s arsenal of metal detectors, luggage scanners, and explosive trace detection machines is comparable to those in most sites across the country. Pittsburgh also has uniformed officers trained in behavior detection.

Though the number of total-body scanners the TSA will have matches the number of commercial airports at 450, Davis said that does not necessarily mean every airport will have one.

Concerns arise

Still, plans of a massive scanner deployment have some advocacy groups worried. “Do these store and record images of American passengers stripped naked? The answer is yes,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Rotenberg said the diversity of bomb-making materials complicates the usefulness of body scanners that can not detect liquid or powder components.

He finds sacrificing privacy misses the big-picture problems, such as an erosion of intelligence or a bureaucratic failure to communicate about a specific threat like the Christmas Day bombing suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. “Oftentimes we’re asked what the harm is in the privacy realm. But this intrusion is the compelled disclosure of one in undress by the government,” he said.

Cai, however, has found concerns over the systems to be unique to the United States, adding that such a system wouldn’t cause much concern in parts of Asia, which have populations more obsequious to the government, or in Europe, where anyone looking for a thrill heads to the beach and not the airport.

Savvides, too, has little concern about his technology leading to a police state. “Have you ever thought about how many cameras are in a casino?” he asked.

BAE develops a UAV for U.K. police

Published 25 January 2010

BAE Systems, which produces a UAV for war zones, is developing the military-style planes for a consortium of U.K. government agencies; a Home Office-backed project intends to use the drone in time for the 2012 Olympics

Police is to use unmanned spy drones to monitor anti-social motorists, protesters, agricultural thieves, and flytippers. BAE Systems, which produces a UAV for war zones, is developing the military-style planes for a consortium of government agencies led by Kent Police. Similar aerial devices have been used in the war in Afghanistan. Using the same techniques in the United Kingdom will undoubtedly raise concerns about the expansion of covert state surveillance.

The Scotsman’s Nicholas Christian writes that documents from the South Coast Partnership, a Home Office-backed project, have revealed that the police is developing the drone plan with BAE. The documents have come to light under the Freedom of Information Act. They reveal that the partnership intends to use the drone in time for the 2012 Olympics. They also suggest that the police have talked about selling the surveillance data to private companies.

A prototype drone equipped with high-powered cameras and sensors is set to take to the skies for test flights later this year. The Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates U.K. airspace, has been told by BAE and Kent Police that civilian UAVs would “greatly extend” the government’s surveillance capacity and “revolutionise policing.”

The CAA is understood to be reluctant to license UAVs in normal airspace because of the risk of collision with other aircraft. In the future, however, systems that would automatically steer UAVs away from trouble are likely to be developed.

It is understood that five other police forces have signed up to the system as part of a pilot scheme before it is introduced across the United Kingdom. Kent Police’s assistant chief constable, Allyn Thomas, has written to the CAA arguing that military drones would be useful “in the policing of major events.”

BAE drones are programmed to take off and land on their own, stay airborne for up to fifteen hours, and reach heights of 20,000ft, making them invisible from the ground.

Soldiers In Iraq Employ New UAS

MQ-1C Sky Warrior UAS. Source / copyright : US Army

by Staff Writers
Camp Taji, Iraq (SPX) Jan 26, 2010
Placing a new aircraft in a combat situation is a true test of its capabilities and future role within the Army. Unmanned aircraft systems have become a mainstay in military operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom; injecting new concepts and technologies will only further push the uses of these aircraft.

Quick Reaction Capability 1, attached to 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Division - Center, is a small unit with a handful of Soldiers deployed from Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion out of Fort Huachuca, Ariz., that has spent the past months putting the new MQ-1C Sky Warrior UAS through numerous tests to help Department of Army officials determine the path of the unmanned aircraft systems.

The Sky Warrior, a system larger than the Predator, is operated by Soldiers in Iraq as opposed to being flown remotely from the United States. It has a wing span of 56 feet and is capable of carrying Hellfire missiles.

The Department of the Army wanted QRC1 to be assigned to the Baghdad area of operations; and since the 1st Cavalry Division was in charge of operations for Baghdad at the time, the unit fell under 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, said Capt. Travis Blaschke, from Spokane, Wash., commander of QRC1.

"This aircraft is in its infancy. The aircraft that we have right now on the flight line are the first aircraft produced by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and deployed by the Army," said Blaschke. "All of the aircraft were built during the Development and Testing phase of the acquisition process, which means all the aircraft are prototypes."

Even though the Sky Warrior is still in a testing phase, it is being used in missions to support units on the ground. Through these missions, the QRC1 unit is gathering data to determine the direction the program will go.

"Our mission is to support [U.S. Division - Center] on all of their [reconnaissance surveillance and target acquisition] missions by providing aero-scout capabilities to the maneuver commander," said Blaschke. "Our secondary mission is to validate the MQ-1C for the program of record."

Program of record, or POR, is the final milestone for any new Army asset. This will move the MQ-1C from development and testing into full rate production and adoption into the Army's common inventory.

The Army saw a need for having division-level UAS assets similar to the Air Force Predator. The Sky Warrior MQ-1C will answer this need, said Blaschke.

"We are actually testing the concept of operations, system limitations, hardware and software," he said. "We are working through a lot of challenges by forging a new path, but it has been worth it to see the incredible progress."

"To think that the company was created 14 months ago, finished qualification training eight months ago and we are now conducting full spectrum ... missions in theater is pretty amazing," he said.

QRC1 is a program that has been developed to assume and mitigate a lot of the risk for the POR, which should be developed in about three years, said Blaschke.

If the QRC1 program is successful, the Army has a plan in place to give every aviation brigade multiple Sky Warriors starting in 2011, said Blaschke. The aircraft would be a division-level asset and would be further dispersed down to the combat units to support the maneuver commanders.

"To date, the majority of the missions we are conducting involve the dissemination of full-motion video, which provides situational awareness for the commanders at battalion, brigade and even division," said Blaschke. "We have been over-watching air assaults, cordon and searches; conducting reconnaissance and surveillance."

Along with the ability to conduct surveillance and fly well beyond a dozen hours, once testing is complete, the Sky Warrior will be armed with Hellfire missiles, which will add another dimension to its combat role.

"This is an aircraft that can have different payloads," said Blaschke.

"It has the capability of actually looking out long distances in order to find the enemy in different ways. Whether it is using the image intelligence, using signal intelligence, using measuring intelligence, this platform can not only find the enemy but will ultimately be able to engage and neutralize the enemy."

The Sky Warrior also has the capability to point out targets for other aircraft - enabling them to hit their target while the Sky Warrior aims, said Blaschke. It can guide in a Hellfire from an AH-64D Apache attack helicopter or even Joint Direct Attack Munitions from an F/A-18 Super Hornet, F-16 Fighting Falcon or F-22 Raptor - making a hunter-killer team.

"This aircraft will be standing side-by-side Army maneuver assets, rotary wing teams on air assault missions, or teaming with the ground maneuver commanders on cordons or raids," said Blaschke.

However, the Sky Warrior with all of its technology is nothing more than a display model without the men and women who operate the aircraft and know its full capabilities.

"The operators of the system need to be at the highest level of proficiency and also maintain the proper situational awareness to ensure they are supporting the ground commander to the best of their ability," said Blaschke.

Unlike the Air Force, who only allows officers to operate UAS, the Sky Warrior operators of QRC1 consist of officers, warrant officers and enlisted personnel.

The QRC1 unit is on the edge of the envelope and Army leaders have high expectations for the future of the Sky Warrior program, according to Blaschke.

"We are in the process of honing the operators' proficiency to the highest levels and also developing this aircraft to the pinnacle of reliability and lethality," said Blaschke. "The future of MQ-1C operations is only limited by the breadth of our imagination."

Terahertz scanners may detect what whole-body scanners miss

Published 26 January 2010

A typical full-body scanner works by bouncing X-rays off an individual’s skin to produce an outline image of the person’s body; these images must then be studied by an operator who makes the call whether there is a potential explosive present or not; the operator’s subjective view makes the system more fallible; terahertz technology works by sweeping a terahertz beam across a person and then using sensors to detect the radiation that reflects back; explosives and benign substances such as candy have a different terahertz spectrum, or fingerprint, that can be classified by TeraView software

The government’s decision to raise the U.K. threat level to severe this weekend has once again raised concerns about the risk terrorists pose to air travel. The Engineer reports that some explosive screening technology developers believe full-body image scanners — currently proposed by the government for deployment across all U.K. airports — will not effectively detect all threats.

Don Arnone, chief executive of Cambridge-based TeraView, said his company is currently working on a scanning technology that uses Terahertz light to detect different types of plastic explosives through clothing, including PETN, the explosive that a foiled Nigerian bomber carried on Christmas Day. Amone says that terahertz light is more effective than full-body scanners at finding certain explosives because the latter technology is not particularly good at imaging density variations.

A typical full-body scanner works by bouncing X-rays off an individual’s skin to produce an outline image of the person’s body. Arnone said these images must then be studied by an operator who makes the call whether there is a potential explosive present or not. The operator’s subjective view makes the system more fallible, he added.

“The attempted bomber in Detroit had PETN powder in his pants and if you look at some of the images of powder in clothing, it’s hard to distinguish where the powder ends and the clothing starts,” said Arnone.

According to Arnone, TeraView technology works by sweeping a terahertz beam across a person and then using sensors to detect the radiation that reflects back. “We grab from that what we call a terahertz fingerprint,” he said, adding that explosives and benign substances such as candy will have a different terahertz spectrum, or fingerprint, that can be classified by TeraView software.

Arnone said TeraView currently has a library that classifies the spectrum of nearly 200 substances. TeraView demonstrated this technology with Smiths Detection using a prototype wand similar to the ones used by airport security officials who sweep up and down a person’s body in search of metal objects.

Arnone said the prototype is effective but his company would like the technology to be integrated into metal detectors — making the screening process much faster and less grating for passengers.

The U.S. Department of Defense is currently performing laboratory evaluations of TeraView screening systems. Arnone added that the company is still raising funds to further develop the technology so it can be tested in real-life airport screening scenarios. He estimated this could happen within the year and a commercial product could be made available as early as the end of this year.

With Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that full-body scanning technology will gradually be rolled out across U.K. airports this year, Arnone said he recognizes TeraView screening systems will not be fully developed in time to serve as an alternative. “My gut feeling is the way to introduce new technologies is to bring them alongside existing technologies such as these full-body scanners and show how we complement them,” he added. “As our technology is used more and more and our claims of superiority hopefully become obvious to the wider world, then we could see our technology displacing full-body scanners in the future.”

Engineers urge overhaul of Haiti's archaic, anarchic building practices

Published 26 January 2010

In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, building codes, if they even exist, exist on paper only; all governments in Haiti, including the present one, have been corrupt, predatory, and utterly indifferent to the welfare of the people; a recent OAS report detailed a litany of flaws in Haiti’s attitude to buildings: weak or missing reinforcement, structures on steep slopes with unstable foundations, inadequate or nonexistant inspections, poor designs, materials, and techniques; Kit Miyamoto, a California structural engineer who went to Haiti last week: “No code, no engineering, means death”

A new hospital in the Turgeau neighborhood dissolved into a pancaked stack of concrete floor slabs surrounded by broken toilets. The shell of a nearby high school rested atop its crumbled first floor. Just across Avenue Jean Paul II, a gleaming aluminum-and-glass skyscraper escaped almost unscathed.

Digicel’s headquarters, the tallest building in Haiti completed a little more than a year ago by the country’s largest phone company, stands out even more than it did before a powerful 7.0 earthquake left much of this city in ruins. A First World tower in a Third World city, it was designed using American building codes to endure 7.2 shock waves or higher. It did. “You don’t call the structural engineer in at the end of your drawing. You start with the structural engineer before it’s built,” said architect Christian Dutour, pleased after surveying his 12-story building. “Otherwise, it doesn’t work.”

The Miami Herald’s Jacqueline Charles and Curtis Morgan write that in a way, that also explains why so many other structures in its shadow collapsed. Most buildings in Haiti go up without engineers, standards, or inspections. The earthquake is only the latest, and worst, tragedy to expose the largely unregulated and slapdash construction long accepted on the island — practices that structural engineers believe added to a staggering death toll that could reach 200,000.

While extensive death and destruction would be expected from a 7.0 temblor so close to a densely populated and dirt-poor city, earthquake experts have nonetheless been shocked by the catastrophic failure of so many prominent and critical buildings.

It was not just humble shacks and turn-of-the-previous-century icons like the historic Roman Catholic Cathedral of Port-au-Prince, but new and newly renovated schools, police stations, bank branches, high-end hotels, and hospitals. The U.S. Agency for International Development reported Thursday that 13 of 15 government ministry buildings had been destroyed.

“This was pseudo-engineering. It was terrible,”’ said Eduardo Fierro, a California-based forensic and seismic engineer who was among the first experts to survey the damage. “For the poor people who do their own building, you shouldn’t expect better,”’ said Fierro, who spoke from Santo Domingo after nearly a week in Haiti. “For the people who have a four-story building, for the Hotel Montana, a fancy hotel where all the foreign visitors stay, you should expect better. There is complete ignorance of seismic behavior.”

Charles and Morgan write that only last month, the Organization of American States (OAS) completed a study concluding that a far less serious natural disaster would destroy many of Haiti’s buildings. It detailed a litany of flaws: weak or missing reinforcement, structures on steep slopes with unstable foundations, inadequate or nonexistant inspections, poor designs, materials, and techniques.

The findings, which the agency has not yet released, would surprise no one in Haiti. They are common across much of the Caribbean and in developing communities.

“The people tend to do whatever they want to do. If I want to build my house, I can just go and do it,”’ said Pierre Fouche, a Haitian working on a doctorate in earthquake engineering at the University of Buffalo, with the goal of finding affordable methods to strengthen his country’s lax standards and structures.

Woeful building seems a particular plague for Haiti. Last year, for instance, a church-run school in Pétionville suddenly collapsed — with no push from nature — killing ninety-one students and teachers and injuring 162 others.

Engineers urge overhaul of Haiti's archaic, anarchic building practices

Published 26 January 2010

In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, building codes, if they even exist, exist on paper only; all governments in Haiti, including the present one, have been corrupt, predatory, and utterly indifferent to the welfare of the people; a recent OAS report detailed a litany of flaws in Haiti’s attitude to buildings: weak or missing reinforcement, structures on steep slopes with unstable foundations, inadequate or nonexistant inspections, poor designs, materials, and techniques; Kit Miyamoto, a California structural engineer who went to Haiti last week: “No code, no engineering, means death”

Patterns in the rubble

Most Caribbean countries, Haiti included, have building laws based on the Caribbean Uniform Building Code, said Cletus Springs, director of the OAS’ Department of Sustainable Development in Washington, D.C. In many places, however, rules exist only on paper.

Few people in Haiti build to resist major hurricanes that routinely rake the island. Almost no one drew blueprints for a major earthquake, which had not hit in more than two centuries.

The Digicel building was one notable exception. The office tower, which would look at home along Miami’s Brickell Avenue, was designed with what engineers call “ductility” — the capability of bending, but not breaking, under violent side-to-side shaking of seismic waves.

Haiti’s prevailing form of construction, lightly or unreinforced masonry that is rigid but brittle, ranks among the most vulnerable to seismic shocks. The cheapest and most common building materials are homemade cement and blocks of inconsistent strength. Reinforcing steel, or rebar, is often disdained as an expensive luxury.

Even some Haitian architects admit to undervaluing it. One of them, Philip Magloire, now is glad he lost an argument with his engineer on a project that withstood the tremors. “I was always fighting with him, ‘You are putting in too much rebar,’”’ he said during an interview in Port-au-Prince. “I will never fight with him again.”

Aside from streaks of destruction starkly visible on ravines and hillsides, where buildings, houses, and walls collapsed in top-to-bottom cascades, ruin can seem random on the street. For every collapsed building, another of similar age and design seems to have survived with minimal damage — sometimes across the block from each other.

Fierro and other experts, however, see clear patterns amid the rubble. Dozens of images Fierro posted for analysis on the Web site of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute highlight common flaws: spindly support columns snapping under too much weight; weakly attached buildings slipping off unstable foundations; unbraced joints separating; loose, load-bearing block or stone walls spilling like toy blocks. “The buildings, as they are built, they’re very fragile,” he said. “As soon as they go, they go completely.”

Where there is steel, there is almost always too little or the wrong kind, said Cynthia Perry, a partner with Fierro in a Van Nuys, California, seismic engineering firm. Some unfinished columns on the top floor of a school under construction in Léogane reflected a common standard. The rebar, she said, was half the diameter called for under California codes, and poorly tied together — suitable for no more than a light residential building. The finished columns holding the floors below broke like twigs. “They’re all too small for major construction,” she said.

A host of other factors certainly contributed to extensive damage on the island, including loose, sandy soils and Haitians’ penchant for adding floors atop existing private homes, government buildings, and even schools. In Port-au-Prince, like many other crowded Caribbean cities, the only place to grow is often up.

Engineers urge overhaul of Haiti's archaic, anarchic building practices

Published 26 January 2010

In Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, building codes, if they even exist, exist on paper only; all governments in Haiti, including the present one, have been corrupt, predatory, and utterly indifferent to the welfare of the people; a recent OAS report detailed a litany of flaws in Haiti’s attitude to buildings: weak or missing reinforcement, structures on steep slopes with unstable foundations, inadequate or nonexistant inspections, poor designs, materials, and techniques; Kit Miyamoto, a California structural engineer who went to Haiti last week: “No code, no engineering, means death”

That added mass can prove fatal, said Amir Mirmiran, engineering dean at Florida International University. “You can think about the entire ground shaking,” he said. “If you have a bigger mass, you’re going to attract a larger force with it.”

The dangerous practice is so common that when Haitian architect Philippe Léon builds a house, he always tops it with a pitched roof if he has calculated the structure will not support more weight. “I know my clients,” he said during an interview in Port-au-Prince.

Leon and others in Haiti blamed the island’s grinding poverty for rampant construction problems. Outside experts agree it is unreasonable to apply stateside standards to one of the poorest nations in the Western hemisphere.

The way to progress

They also argue that the country must change its ways — starting with essential “lifeline buildings”’ like hospitals and schools — if it hopes to weather inevitable future disasters.

Haiti has taken stabs at beefing up building codes in the past. Ironically, said architect Magloire, one expert brought in recently to work on the code died in the collapse of the Hotel Montana.

If history is a lesson, change will be difficult. Farzad Naeim, president of the board of directors of the Oakland, California-based nonprofit Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, said he is usually disappointed when he returns to devastated cities in developing countries.

“It is mind-boggling,” he said. “All the attention to earthquakes right now, in six months, is going to dim. I am practicing now in a field where the cure is known. It is not rocket science, but people go back to building the buildings that killed people.”

The OAS’s Springer said overhauling Haiti’s building code alone will not do much without broader education, retraining programs and financial support. “There is no quick, cheap or easy path to resolving the multiple issues that were so harshly exposed by last week’s earthquake,” he wrote in an e-mail in response to questions from Charles and Morgan.

Frantz Verella, Haiti’s former minister of public works, said the government must move to make all schools and critical structures quake-resistant. “We can do it,”’ he said, “with the help of the international community.”

As the devastated country struggles to fill its citizens’ basic needs, it also will require strong political will. With many of its government buildings in rubble, the Haitian government has begun looking for new offices. It has directed the minister of tourism, an architect, to lead a safety evaluation. Citibank and the United Nations, both formerly housed in buildings that suffered horrific failures, have already inquired about moving into the Digicel building.

American teams also are assisting. Mirmiran of FIU said he will join other experts in Haiti working on structural surveys and long-term planning. The goal for most buildings in Haiti, engineers say, should not be to build to the expensive standards of the Digicel building, but to simply reduce the house-of-cards collapses that claimed so many victims — the minimum standard of many quake codes. “The question is, do we have an affordable, economic solution to save lives?” Mirmiran said. “The answer is yes.”

Kit Miyamoto, a California structural engineer who went to Haiti last week to do reconnaissance work for the nonprofit Pan American Development Foundation, echoed that view. He believes that several buildings he surveyed, including the presidential palace, could be repaired and retrofitted with bracing and supports that might add 1 percent to the cost. Others say seismic fixes could add 5 to 10 percent to construction bills.

There is a lesson to be learned from the catastrophe, Miyamoto said, one that applies not just to Haiti. “No code, no engineering, means death,” he said. “Hopefully, those lives lost will trigger something.”

L-1 Identity Solutions’ Daugman-based iris algorithm passes test

Published 27 January 2010

Rigorous tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) find that the accuracy of L-1’s iris recognition technology as markedly higher than prior results, and that improvements came without sacrificing speed; the evaluation also showed that L-1's accuracy did not come at the expense of template size

Good news for L-1’s iris recognition technology. L-1 Identity Solutions announced that the accuracy, speed, and template compactness of L-1’s Daugman-based iris algorithm was unsurpassed in a NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) IREX I (Iris Exchange) supplemental report published this month. The company notes that the NIST IREX I supplemental report adds to the October 2009 release of initial IREX results on the performance of iris recognition algorithms.

The report notes that the accuracy of L-1’s iris technology was markedly higher than prior results and improvements came without sacrificing speed. In fact, when averaged over all tested databases and measured at the most demanding operating point published by NIST (a false match rate of 1 in 1,000,000), the Daugman-based L-1 algorithm produced the best accuracy of all ten iris vendor participants.

The evaluation also showed that L-1’s accuracy did not come at the expense of template size or algorithm speed. Compared to the competition, L-1 templates were ten times smaller than the next most accurate vendor. In NIST’s modeling of a 2,000 enrollee identification for access control (where the time for template creation and matching were both considered), the L-1 iris technology showed the lowest false rejection rate and the fastest composite match time of all five of the most accurate vendors. Among all algorithms participating in the IREX evaluations, the speed of template creation varied over a factor of 100, the speed of matching varied over a factor of 1,000, and L-1 performed at the highest end of both parameters for a given accuracy. As a result, the L-1 algorithm had the best combination of accuracy and speed of all tested algorithms, an attribute that is critically important to facilitating large-scale identity programs and supporting national database applications.

Professor John Daugman, chief scientist of iris recognition for L-1 Identity Solutions said, “Our performance in the NIST IREX test shows that L-1’s iris technology gives consistently accurate matching over a variety of databases without sacrificing template size or matching speed. This translates into huge operational advantages in real world deployments. I am honored to play a role in continuing to set new levels of excellence for iris recognition within the scientific community and together with L-1 remain committed to ensuring that this important technology brings demonstrable and the industry.”

IREX is an umbrella program for various NIST activities supporting interoperable iris biometrics. The IREX I supplemental report is available at NIST Web site.

Thermal-boosted infrared detection scanners address radiation, privacy concerns

Published 27 January 2010

Iscon Video Imaging’s proprietary thermal-boosted infrared detection technology shows objects and clothing without any harmful radiation; the detection system creates a temperature differential between clothes and a hidden object

What with the growing interest in – and debate over – whole-body scanners, we note that Woburn, Massachusetts-based Iscon Video Imaging is introducing two new airport passenger scanners with a patented Thermal-Boosted Infrared Detection System. The company says that scanners based on the technology only show objects and clothing without any harmful radiation.

The new Iscon system reveals the thermal imprint of any material — plastic, wood, metal, ceramic powder, as well as metal.

“The Iscon system is a next generation imaging and detection system that creates a temperature differential between clothes and a hidden object,” explains founder and president, Izrail Gorian. “We’ve eliminated the two most prevalent concerns about airport scanner technology — radiation exposure and privacy issues. The U.S Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is currently testing our technology which we are ready to sell to airports and other security sensitive facilities.”

The patented, proprietary Iscon system is being introduced in two configurations. The whole-body scanner portal, Iscon 1000D, is less expensive than other systems and takes up less space at cramped security check-in areas. The company says that a complete scan and detection takes thirty seconds so passengers can quickly move through security areas.

Iscon is also introducing a portable system called GameChangeIR, a hand-held device, using the same technology in the 1000D for more selective scanning applications. Security personnel can use it to detect objects hidden in “difficult” hiding places. Used in conjunction with a metal detector, it provides the operator with a sophisticated body scanning system at a fraction of the cost of other body-scanning portals.

“The GameChangeIR simply automates the intrusive, time consuming pat-down, which is a welcome advancement for airport security personnel as well as any passenger who has been unnecessarily subjected,” Gorian explains. It is easy to deploy and can be operated with minimal training. In addition to smaller airports, this device can be used for screening at government and corporate buildings and factories as well as retail establishments for loss prevention.

Decision Sciences, Battelle to develop passive nuclear material detector

Published 27 January 2010

The companies will rely on work done by Decision Sciences and Los Alamos National Laboratory on muon tomography and gamma ray detection applications; the collaborative effort will yield a multi-mode system capable of detecting nuclear materials across the complete threat spectrum, including shielded and unshielded nuclear materials

Decision Sciences and Battelle have teamed to pursue a possible procurement opportunity with DHS’s Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) relating to trans-shipment and direct-to-rail radiation detection equipment and operations, and further to develop Decision Sciences’s Multi-Mode Passive Detection System, MMPDSTM, into an operational and deployable system.

Building on work by Decision Sciences and Los Alamos National Laboratory on muon tomography and gamma ray detection applications, Decision Sciences and Battelle plan to collaborate to produce a multi-mode system capable of detecting nuclear materials across the complete threat spectrum, including shielded and unshielded nuclear materials.

“Our completely passive multi-mode system provides ‘Defense in Depth’ for cargo and passenger vehicle security,” said Robert Whalen, president and CEO of Decision Sciences. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to team with a world-class institute such as Battelle to advance our homeland’s security.”

About muons

Muons are subatomic particles created in the Earth’s upper atmosphere as a result of interactions with cosmic rays. They are the natural result of decayed pions and kaons and are part of normal background radiation. They continuously rain down upon the Earth. Each minute of every day 10,000 muons per square meter fall to the Earth and harmlessly penetrate everything in their path.

Changes in U.S. policies would create 11 million jobs

Published 28 January 2010

Changes include reducing corporate income tax, a permanent R&D credit, modernizing export controls, and making major investments in energy and transportation infrastructure; the proposed investments amount to $425.6 billion, creating 3.4 million construction- and R&D-related jobs. Accounting for ripple effects across other sectors, the total impact would add up to more than ten million jobs

A new economic report conducted by the Milken Institute and sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) shows that changes to economic and tax policies and investment in key infrastructure project categories could create more than eleven million jobs in the United States this decade.

Industry Week reports that the study analyzes how reducing corporate tax rates, establishing a permanent research and development (R&D) credit, modernizing the U.S. system of export controls, and making major investments in energy and transportation infrastructure would create jobs and make the United States more competitive.

“This report makes a powerful case that manufacturing can lead the United States into a renewed era of growth — if Congress enacts policies to promote U.S. competitiveness,” said John Engler, NAM president. “This is a growth agenda. However, it requires policymakers to legislate with our position in the global economy in mind. It is critical that we accelerate our economic recovery and create jobs for the benefit of manufacturers, their workers and the entire U.S. economy.”

“This report is designed to be an effective tool for policymakers to weigh the options they have — both in policy and in investment — to address the very real issue of jobs,” said Ross DeVol, executive director of economic research at the Milken Institute. “It shouldn’t be overlooked, however, that the policies and infrastructure projects analyzed are also key to the long-term competitiveness and continued economic growth of the nation.”

Key findings include:

• Reducing the U.S. corporate income tax to match the average of other industrial countries (OECD nations) would trigger new growth. By 2019, it could boost real GDP by $375.5 billion and create an additional 350,000 manufacturing jobs — increasing total employment by 2.1 million.
• A permanent R&D credit, increased by 25 percent, could boost real GDP by $206 billion (1.2 percent) and generate 316,000 manufacturing jobs.
• Modernizing U.S. export controls could increase exports in high-value areas, enhancing real GDP by $64 billion by 2019, and creating 160,000 manufacturing jobs.

The report also demonstrates the major economic impact that would result from investments in ten areas of infrastructure — highways and transit, broadband infrastructure, onshore exploration/offshore drilling, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, smart grid, sustainability projects (natural gas and clean coal technology), nuclear energy, waterways and aviation (NextGen).

The proposed investments amount to $425.6 billion, creating 3.4 million construction- and R&D-related jobs. Accounting for ripple effects across other sectors, the total impact would add up to more than ten million jobs. The impact on long-term competitiveness is just as critical.

The full report is available at the Milken Institute’s Web site.

Apple iPad debuts featuring 3G and WiFi connectivity from AT&T

By Lynnette Luna

Comment | Forward

We can all exhale now. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company's highly anticipated new tablet device, called the iPad, at a media event in San Francisco.

The device, which looks like a larger version of the iPod touch, will come with both WiFi and 3G wireless data from AT&T. Apple and AT&T continue to be attached at the hip, but the service won't require a contract like the iPhone. This ultra-thin tablet, which doesn't enable traditional wireless voice services, will allow users to surf the web, check email, play games and watch videos, among other things.

Jobs said two 3G data plans from AT&T will be available for the iPad: $14.99 per month for 250 MB and an unlimited data plan for $29.99 per month. The services will be prepaid, allowing users to cancel at any time, and will include access to AT&T's WiFi network. Users can activate the wireless service directly on the device.

A WiFi-only version of the iPad will be available in two months, while the WiFi/3G version will be available in three months. A physical keyboard will be available separately.

The WiFi-only devices will be sold for $499 for a 16 GB model, $599 for 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB. The 3G models will run at $629 for the 16 GB model, $729 for the 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB version. Jobs said the company would detail international 3G carrier deals by June or July. The device is fully unlocked and supports GSM micro-SIM cards.

The iPad has a 9.7-inch capacitive, fingerprint-resistant touchscreen display, is 0.5 inches thick, weighs 1.5 lbs. and is powered by a 1 GHz processor built by Apple. The device has built-in speakers and a microphone, but no camera, and can get up 10 hours of battery life when surfing the Web on WiFi.

The question is now: Can AT&T handle the additional data load? Its struggle with the data onslaught from iPhone users has been well documented. During a conference call discussing the company's quarterly results, Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said Apple was confident the operator will make significant progress toward improving service after reviewing AT&T's plans. 

For more:
- see these photos
- read this release
- take a look at this Bloomberg article
- check out this Engadget live blog
- see this WSJ live blog

Related Articles:
It's not the Apple tablet that's important, it's the content
Rumor Mill: Is AT&T losing its iPhone hold this week?
Rumor Mill: Verizon a partner for Apple's tablet, next iPhone
Analyst says media conflicts will halt Verizon iPhone deal

Haitian architects, urban planners say the need is to build a better Haiti

Published 28 January 2010

A group of Haitian architects, engineers, and urban planners has met every day since the devastating quake, discussing not how to rebuild the country, but how to start anew; they should start with the country’s building code; one high government official participating in the meetings says dismissively: “There is a two-page building code [in Haiti]… that nobody used"

The first e-mail went out within hours of the 12 January earthquake, calling together some of Haiti’s most prominent architects, engineers, and urban planners. The next day, fifty people showed up at a house in the hillside suburb of Petionville and went to work.

They have met every day since, gathering around a table in a courtyard under the shade of a spreading almond tree. Their goal is simple. It is also audacious. They want to plan a new Haiti.

Not just new buildings. A new economy, a new political culture, a new way of thinking. A Haiti that would look very different from the one that existed before the quake.

“We don’t want to talk about rebuilding,” said the group’s guiding spirit, industrial engineer Jean-Marie Raymond Noel. “We want to talk about a new project, a new vision…. We can’t hope to be in the same situation as before the quake. It was not good.”

Los Angeles Times’s Mitchell Landsberg writes that the structural losses that Haiti suffered in the magnitude 7.0 quake are incalculable. The National Palace is in ruins. So is Parliament, the nation’s highest court, the Roman Catholic cathedral, virtually all of the downtown commercial district, the city’s biggest and most modern supermarket, countless schools, banks, hotels, churches and, of course, homes in what is the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.

No one wants to talk about the disaster as an opportunity, exactly. To begin with, it seems insensitive, considering that more than 150,000 people died in the quake and many of their bodies remain entombed in the rubble of the buildings that collapsed.

In addition, no one knows where Haiti will come up with the money to rebuild, or how much it will cost. Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive launched that effort Monday when he appealed to international donors in Montreal for money to recover from the quake.

One way or another, though, this country will have to build a new capital, or at least a big chunk of one. There is talk of moving it somewhere else, starting fresh, but that seems unlikely. And so the people who plan and build are starting to dream.

Landsberg writes that they look to the way Japan and Germany were reborn out of the rubble of the Second World War and think: Why not Haiti? “We want another country,” said Marie Daniele, a Port-au-Prince architect who attends the daily meetings in Petionville. “Everyone here wants another country, with rules, and a strong government to apply them.”

By rules, Daniele was talking in part about a building code. Sitting a couple of seats away from her at a planning group meeting Monday was Leslie Voltaire, Haiti’s special envoy to the United Nations. He scoffed at the mention of a code. “There is a two-page building code,” he said dismissively, “that nobody used.”

The architects began murmuring in dissent. Voltaire corrected himself. “The professionals used it,” he said. “But the professionals build 5% of the buildings.”

Anyway, Voltaire acknowledged, the building code really wasn’t made with earthquakes in mind. Hurricanes were the big fear here, and with good reason: Haiti has been pounded repeatedly by devastating storms, including four in 2008 alone.

So people built with cinder blocks and cement, the heavier the better. Most builders lacked the money for substantial reinforcement. When the quake hit, multistory buildings collapsed into single-story slabs of compressed rubble.

Haitian architects, urban planners say the need is to build a better Haiti

Published 28 January 2010

A group of Haitian architects, engineers, and urban planners has met every day since the devastating quake, discussing not how to rebuild the country, but how to start anew; they should start with the country’s building code; one high government official participating in the meetings says dismissively: “There is a two-page building code [in Haiti]… that nobody used"

The planners would like to explore using other materials, perhaps bamboo. Steel probably will remain too expensive for most Haitians, they said. Some kind of change is necessary, however, and it needs oversight and enforcement. “This is the big challenge,” said Daniele. “Change the mentality.”

That is just one of the challenges, of course. There is also the cost of rebuilding, which by anyone’s estimate is far beyond the country’s means. There is the daunting physical challenge of demolishing the thousands of buildings that are damaged beyond repair and cleaning up the rubble. Then there is the challenge of resettling an estimated 700,000 people left homeless in the Port-au-Prince area.

Noel said the planning group grew out of an organization he leads, the Committee for Support of Municipalities. It had about 100 members and its weekly executive board meetings used to involve the nine board members and perhaps a few others.

Right after the quake, “We made a call for architects, engineers and urban planners to come together and try to bring an appropriate and adequate response to this tragedy,” he said. The response was gratifying.

That first day after the quake, he said, people gathered in the courtyard they are borrowing from a physical therapy center and began to talk. It was loose and informal: Members would drift in and out as they went to search for loved ones missing in the quake.

They kept coming back, though, day after day, arriving in the late morning, sometimes staying until 5 p.m., forming committees and preparing proposals, the first of which they plan to send to the government today.

That proposal is more technical than visionary, dealing with how to mobilize the country and solicit international aid.

The group is kicking around some far-reaching ideas, and although it has no official standing, it has captured the ear of the government, including Voltaire.

The envoy participated in planning that led to a blueprint for a new Haitian economy, built around sustainable agriculture, tourism, technology, textile exports, and perhaps further development of port facilities. Voltaire envisions a less centralized Haiti, with more urban dwellers moving back to the countryside and taking some pressure off Port-au-Prince, which had a population of 2 million before the quake.

The architects and others in the planning group agree. They also envision a new Port-au-Prince that might bear only a passing resemblance to the vibrant but teeming and chaotic capital that existed before the quake. “I see Port-au-Prince not with big buildings,” said architect Winifred Galvan. “I see Port-au-Prince with the central palace and those things, but … with less people than it had before.”

Galvan sees townhouses built where larger apartment buildings once stood, and collapsed buildings replaced with parks and social service offices. She sees a seaside promenade and imagines tourists flocking to a place that once was a regular travel destination, but has long been shunned by the Caribbean getaway crowd.

She knows this isn’t likely to happen for a long time, if ever, but it seems as good a time as any to dream.

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Thermal-boosted infrared detection scanners address radiation, privacy concerns

Published 27 January 2010

Iscon Video Imaging’s proprietary thermal-boosted infrared detection technology shows objects and clothing without any harmful radiation; the detection system creates a temperature differential between clothes and a hidden object

What with the growing interest in – and debate over – whole-body scanners, we note that Woburn, Massachusetts-based Iscon Video Imaging is introducing two new airport passenger scanners with a patented Thermal-Boosted Infrared Detection System. The company says that scanners based on the technology only show objects and clothing without any harmful radiation.

The new Iscon system reveals the thermal imprint of any material — plastic, wood, metal, ceramic powder, as well as metal.

“The Iscon system is a next generation imaging and detection system that creates a temperature differential between clothes and a hidden object,” explains founder and president, Izrail Gorian. “We’ve eliminated the two most prevalent concerns about airport scanner technology — radiation exposure and privacy issues. The U.S Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is currently testing our technology which we are ready to sell to airports and other security sensitive facilities.”

The patented, proprietary Iscon system is being introduced in two configurations. The whole-body scanner portal, Iscon 1000D, is less expensive than other systems and takes up less space at cramped security check-in areas. The company says that a complete scan and detection takes thirty seconds so passengers can quickly move through security areas.

Iscon is also introducing a portable system called GameChangeIR, a hand-held device, using the same technology in the 1000D for more selective scanning applications. Security personnel can use it to detect objects hidden in “difficult” hiding places. Used in conjunction with a metal detector, it provides the operator with a sophisticated body scanning system at a fraction of the cost of other body-scanning portals.

“The GameChangeIR simply automates the intrusive, time consuming pat-down, which is a welcome advancement for airport security personnel as well as any passenger who has been unnecessarily subjected,” Gorian explains. It is easy to deploy and can be operated with minimal training. In addition to smaller airports, this device can be used for screening at government and corporate buildings and factories as well as retail establishments for loss prevention.

L-1 Identity Solutions’ Daugman-based iris algorithm passes test

Published 27 January 2010

Rigorous tests by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) find that the accuracy of L-1’s iris recognition technology as markedly higher than prior results, and that improvements came without sacrificing speed; the evaluation also showed that L-1's accuracy did not come at the expense of template size

Good news for L-1’s iris recognition technology. L-1 Identity Solutions announced that the accuracy, speed, and template compactness of L-1’s Daugman-based iris algorithm was unsurpassed in a NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) IREX I (Iris Exchange) supplemental report published this month. The company notes that the NIST IREX I supplemental report adds to the October 2009 release of initial IREX results on the performance of iris recognition algorithms.

The report notes that the accuracy of L-1’s iris technology was markedly higher than prior results and improvements came without sacrificing speed. In fact, when averaged over all tested databases and measured at the most demanding operating point published by NIST (a false match rate of 1 in 1,000,000), the Daugman-based L-1 algorithm produced the best accuracy of all ten iris vendor participants.

The evaluation also showed that L-1’s accuracy did not come at the expense of template size or algorithm speed. Compared to the competition, L-1 templates were ten times smaller than the next most accurate vendor. In NIST’s modeling of a 2,000 enrollee identification for access control (where the time for template creation and matching were both considered), the L-1 iris technology showed the lowest false rejection rate and the fastest composite match time of all five of the most accurate vendors. Among all algorithms participating in the IREX evaluations, the speed of template creation varied over a factor of 100, the speed of matching varied over a factor of 1,000, and L-1 performed at the highest end of both parameters for a given accuracy. As a result, the L-1 algorithm had the best combination of accuracy and speed of all tested algorithms, an attribute that is critically important to facilitating large-scale identity programs and supporting national database applications.

Professor John Daugman, chief scientist of iris recognition for L-1 Identity Solutions said, “Our performance in the NIST IREX test shows that L-1’s iris technology gives consistently accurate matching over a variety of databases without sacrificing template size or matching speed. This translates into huge operational advantages in real world deployments. I am honored to play a role in continuing to set new levels of excellence for iris recognition within the scientific community and together with L-1 remain committed to ensuring that this important technology brings demonstrable and the industry.”

IREX is an umbrella program for various NIST activities supporting interoperable iris biometrics. The IREX I supplemental report is available at NIST Web site.

Terahertz scanners may detect what whole-body scanners miss

Published 26 January 2010

A typical full-body scanner works by bouncing X-rays off an individual’s skin to produce an outline image of the person’s body; these images must then be studied by an operator who makes the call whether there is a potential explosive present or not; the operator’s subjective view makes the system more fallible; terahertz technology works by sweeping a terahertz beam across a person and then using sensors to detect the radiation that reflects back; explosives and benign substances such as candy have a different terahertz spectrum, or fingerprint, that can be classified by TeraView software

The government’s decision to raise the U.K. threat level to severe this weekend has once again raised concerns about the risk terrorists pose to air travel. The Engineer reports that some explosive screening technology developers believe full-body image scanners — currently proposed by the government for deployment across all U.K. airports — will not effectively detect all threats.

Don Arnone, chief executive of Cambridge-based TeraView, said his company is currently working on a scanning technology that uses Terahertz light to detect different types of plastic explosives through clothing, including PETN, the explosive that a foiled Nigerian bomber carried on Christmas Day. Amone says that terahertz light is more effective than full-body scanners at finding certain explosives because the latter technology is not particularly good at imaging density variations.

A typical full-body scanner works by bouncing X-rays off an individual’s skin to produce an outline image of the person’s body. Arnone said these images must then be studied by an operator who makes the call whether there is a potential explosive present or not. The operator’s subjective view makes the system more fallible, he added.

“The attempted bomber in Detroit had PETN powder in his pants and if you look at some of the images of powder in clothing, it’s hard to distinguish where the powder ends and the clothing starts,” said Arnone.

According to Arnone, TeraView technology works by sweeping a terahertz beam across a person and then using sensors to detect the radiation that reflects back. “We grab from that what we call a terahertz fingerprint,” he said, adding that explosives and benign substances such as candy will have a different terahertz spectrum, or fingerprint, that can be classified by TeraView software.

Arnone said TeraView currently has a library that classifies the spectrum of nearly 200 substances. TeraView demonstrated this technology with Smiths Detection using a prototype wand similar to the ones used by airport security officials who sweep up and down a person’s body in search of metal objects.

Arnone said the prototype is effective but his company would like the technology to be integrated into metal detectors — making the screening process much faster and less grating for passengers.

The U.S. Department of Defense is currently performing laboratory evaluations of TeraView screening systems. Arnone added that the company is still raising funds to further develop the technology so it can be tested in real-life airport screening scenarios. He estimated this could happen within the year and a commercial product could be made available as early as the end of this year.

With Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that full-body scanning technology will gradually be rolled out across U.K. airports this year, Arnone said he recognizes TeraView screening systems will not be fully developed in time to serve as an alternative. “My gut feeling is the way to introduce new technologies is to bring them alongside existing technologies such as these full-body scanners and show how we complement them,” he added. “As our technology is used more and more and our claims of superiority hopefully become obvious to the wider world, then we could see our technology displacing full-body scanners in the future.”

Thermo Fisher Scientific to acquire Ahura Scientific for $145 million in cash

Published 27 January 2010

Ahura Scientific's products expand Thermo Fisher's portfolio of portable analytical devices designed to provide customers with the ability rapidly to identify and authenticate a range of molecular and elemental substances in the field; Ahura Scientific has approximately 120 employees and generated full-year revenue of approximately $45 million in 2009; Thermo Fisher Scientific had $10.5 billion in revenues in 2008; the company has approximately 35,000 employees and serves more than 350,000 customers

Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), the world leader in serving science, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Wilmington, Massachusetts-based Ahura Scientific for $145 million in cash plus the potential for an earn-out payment based on the achievement of certain 2010 financial targets.

Ahura Scientific’s products expand Thermo Fisher’s portfolio of portable analytical devices designed to provide customers with the ability rapidly to identify and authenticate a range of molecular and elemental substances in the field. Ahura Scientific has approximately 120 employees and generated full-year revenue of approximately $45 million in 2009.

Ahura Scientific specializes in the identification of chemicals for safety, security, and pharmaceutical applications. The company’s miniaturized Raman and FT-IR (Fourier-transform infrared) spectroscopy instruments are used in many countries by military and civilian first responders, major pharmaceutical manufacturers, and consumer health organizations. Ahura Scientific products complement the Thermo Scientific line of portable XRF (X-ray fluorescence) elemental analyzers, which are designed for rapid on-site testing of materials for numerous applications, including metal and alloy analysis, quality assurance and control, consumer product safety and environmental analysis.

“The acquisition of Ahura Scientific further enhances our position in handheld analyzers and strengthens our Thermo Scientific brand by expanding the breadth of our portfolio with complementary technologies,” said Marc Casper, president and chief executive officer of Thermo Fisher Scientific. “It also provides the ability to leverage our commercial channel, product development expertise, and software over multiple laboratory and portable instrument platforms. This combination brings together both companies’ leading technologies for portable chemical and elemental analysis, allowing us to create a powerful tool set for our customers that enables laboratory-quality analysis in the field.”

Doug Kahn, chairman and chief executive officer of Ahura Scientific, said, “The entire Ahura Scientific team is excited to be joining the Thermo Fisher organization. The complementary products and mission make this an ideal and logical strategic fit for both companies.”

The transaction, which is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010, is subject to applicable regulatory approvals and a customary post-closing purchase price adjustment. Ahura Scientific will be integrated into Thermo Fisher’s Analytical Technologies Segment. The company does not expect this transaction to have a material impact on its 2010 financial results.

Thermo Fisher Scientific had $10.5 billion in revenues in 2008. The company has approximately 35,000 employees and serves more than 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions, and government agencies, as well as environmental and industrial process control settings.

Ahura Scientific, founded in 2002, has been backed by leading venture capital firms, including Fuse Capital, Castile Ventures, and ARCH Venture Partners.

Research aims to improve airport security

Published 25 January 2010

From body-part censors to cameras that recognize faces, Carnegie Mellon's CyLab is working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns; CMU's Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space

The underwear bomber’s thwarted attempt to blow up a Christmas Day flight jeopardized President Barack Obama’s plans to close Guantanamo Bay prison, refueled advocacy concerns about passenger privacy, and forced Yang Cai to revisit an algorithm that identifies the curvature of a female breast.

Sitting in a Carnegie Mellon University office surrounded by plaster of Paris molds of the human figure, Dr. Cai explained how his algorithm could put to rest qualms about overexposure from 3-D body scanners at security checkpoints. His algorithms measure the human frame and identify the breast and genitalia areas. The system then automatically blurs those regions, blacks them out with a bar or replaces the features with dummy human parts. “Every man could be Arnold Schwarzenegger, and every woman could be Marilyn Monroe,” he said.

Airport security, however, has never been a place for fantasy. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Erich Schwartzel writes> that the holiday scare and recent news that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to deploy 450 full-body scanners nationwide have government officials planning for legislation and passengers preparing for lines.

Privacy questions

Everyone is worried about who’s looking at what. Two researchers at Carnegie Mellon’s CyLab are working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns. Cai’s research offers an automatic censor for certain body parts and the CyLab Biometrics Center’s programs recognize faces and irises.

Despite the fact that Cai’s system blocks out private parts, it will identify an object hidden around those regions.

Cai, who founded CMU’s Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space.

His research, started in 2000 and published six years later, uses “intrinsic landmarks” to identify the body’s regions of interest. The unit of measure is the human head. After that size is determined, the system knows that the breast region is one-head-size down from the chin, and can map out the rest of the body from there. “It’s instinctive computing,” he said. “We use one object to measure another object.”

Iris scans

Downstairs at the CyLab is the Biometrics Center, which permits visitors in the door only after scanning their iris (the center’s director, professor Marios Savvides, also has a key.) That same kind of iris scan technology is seen by Dr. Savvides and his twenty student assistants as a viable and eventual alternative to fallible security methods, such as body scanners and behavioral analysts.

The problem is that iris scans work now only with highly cooperative subjects who strike the right pose in the right lighting for the iris to be picked up. A machine designed to mimic an airport metal detector sits in the back room. Savvides’ students double as involuntary models.

As each walks through the machine, his or her face is illuminated in infrared and the iris is captured by the camera. The machine matches the iris with those stored in its database. The computer identifies the subject and says, “Nice to see you.”

Savvides sees the eventual possibility of this technology identifying bad guys whose irises have been stored.

These, however, are compatible guinea pigs who also need a good grade. What about suspects actively avoiding the camera? Those are technologies that the lab is “at the edge of,” Savvides said. That includes a camera that finds a face and can follow it as it moves up to sixty feet away. He is also working on a system that identifies irises from a distance for the Department of Defense, which could take about a year to develop.

Research aims to improve airport security

Published 25 January 2010

From body-part censors to cameras that recognize faces, Carnegie Mellon's CyLab is working with security technology that assuages privacy concerns; CMU's Instinctive Computing Lab, eventually envisions a system that can wipe out the body image entirely, picking up only weapons, which will appear to be floating in space

Cameras with a far-reaching radius can help to identify a potential terrorist before he reaches the scanners at a security checkpoint, which Savvides calls “the last failure point.” Long-range cameras could track and identify a suspect before he or she gets close to security or soldiers.

The lab mostly works with government contracts, although it had more industry work before the recession, said Savvides.

Face mapping

The team is working with the FBI to map out the human face to help with image profiling. They currently have seventy-nine facial points identified, with the hope of using them as a template for a system that can recognize a face that appears nervous or finicky.

Schwartzel writes that, ironically, it is the most ostensible and human traits that still trip the technology — things such as facial hair or eyeglasses. Savvides wants to work toward a technology that recognizes if the image-captured person is scarred or wearing a hat. Cai’s work also is in the research phase. His projects were funded by the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office.

Once a new technology is ready, the TSA review process can take several years, said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. Technology is tested at a facility at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and, if approved, is taken on as part of a pilot program at select airports across the United States.

Whole-body imagers were first deployed in airports in Phoenix in 2007. The TSA has purchased 150 scanners and will buy another 300 to be distributed sometime this year.

By comparison, Pittsburgh’s airport security looks decidedly low-tech. Davis, though, said the airport’s arsenal of metal detectors, luggage scanners, and explosive trace detection machines is comparable to those in most sites across the country. Pittsburgh also has uniformed officers trained in behavior detection.

Though the number of total-body scanners the TSA will have matches the number of commercial airports at 450, Davis said that does not necessarily mean every airport will have one.

Concerns arise

Still, plans of a massive scanner deployment have some advocacy groups worried. “Do these store and record images of American passengers stripped naked? The answer is yes,” said Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Rotenberg said the diversity of bomb-making materials complicates the usefulness of body scanners that can not detect liquid or powder components.

He finds sacrificing privacy misses the big-picture problems, such as an erosion of intelligence or a bureaucratic failure to communicate about a specific threat like the Christmas Day bombing suspect, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. “Oftentimes we’re asked what the harm is in the privacy realm. But this intrusion is the compelled disclosure of one in undress by the government,” he said.

Cai, however, has found concerns over the systems to be unique to the United States, adding that such a system wouldn’t cause much concern in parts of Asia, which have populations more obsequious to the government, or in Europe, where anyone looking for a thrill heads to the beach and not the airport.

Savvides, too, has little concern about his technology leading to a police state. “Have you ever thought about how many cameras are in a casino?” he asked.

CIA Chief holds secret talks in Cairo, Israel on Yemen
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

29 Jan. The director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, paid secret visits to Cairo and Jerusalem Thursday, Jan. 28, to prepare the ground for expanding US military intervention in Yemen against al Qaeda strongholds, thereby opening a fresh front in the war on Islamist terror organization.
He asked for an Egyptian expeditionary force to back up US special forces and the use of Egyptian airfields as jumping off bases for US air strikes. In Jerusalem he traded evaluations on Yemen with Israeli intelligence chiefs.

Iran crosses red line, can enrich uranium up to 20 pc
DEBKAfile Special Report

25 Jan. Attaining the ability to enrich uranium up to 20 percent grade brings Iran dangerously close to "break-out" point for a nuclear weapon capability, DEBKAfile's intelligence sources report.
By announcing this, Tehran's hawkish leaders show contempt for the six world powers and their offer to trade Iran's low-grade uranium for 20 pc enriched product overseas and throw down the gauntlet for them and Israel. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's "good news" was the subject of an urgent cabinet meeting in Jerusalem last week.
Our political sources predict that Tehran's provocative move will be met with more of the five months of foot-dragging with which Washington and Jerusalem have met Iran's contempt for one deadline after another for ending nuclear enrichment. The only straight talk from any Western leader has come from French president Nicolas Sarkozy. He said that France has evidence Iran is developing nuclear weapons and warned that Israel "would not stand by while Iran develops nuclear weapons."

Bin Laden claims Delta airline attack, threatens more
DEBKAfile Special Report

24 Jan. In a new audio message aired by Al Jazeera TV Sunday, Jan. 24, Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the Dec. 25 attempt to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit and vowed there would be more attacks. In a message addressed from "Osama to Obama," he said America would have no peace unless there was "security for Palestinians."
A week earlier, Saudi Arabia disposed of three al Qaeda kingpins in Yemen by engineering a mystery explosion in one of its bastions just inside Yemen. Most likely Saudi covert operatives caused the blast after penetrating one if its strongholds. Riyadh later claimed it had the DNA of all three and identified them. One was the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's senior treasurer and must have handled the mission of the Nigerian Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab to blow up a US airliner for which bin Laden claimed responsibility.
Saturday, Jan. 23, Dep. defense minister Prince Khaled bin Sultan said captured weapons bore out Iran's support for the Houthi revolt against the Yemeni government.

Rush of terror alerts on three continents plus Middle East
DEBKAfile Special Report

23 Jan. In the last three days, the governments of eleven countries have scrambled to elevate their preparedness levels for Islamist terror, or enforced extraordinarily stringent security measures. Another six governments have pursued these steps without fanfare.
Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23, India placed its airlines and airports and those of all of South East Asia - on alert for a possible airplane hijacking.
The UK elevated its terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe" - one below top and suspended direct British airline flights to and from Yemen.
Last week, five Britons were apprehended at Islamabad airport attempting to pass their boarding passes to five others. The British appear to fear a fresh spate of terrorism inside the country.
Although the Obama administration has not formally raised the current terror alert level, vigilance at all American airports and border posts has been radically heightened since a Nigerian terrorist tried to blow up the Northwest airliner on Christmas day. Last week, six people on the newly-expanded no-fly list were not allowed to board US-bound flights.
Saturday, US airport authorities were warned that at least two female suicide bombers of "non-Arab appearance" and bearing Western passports may have been sent to America by al Qaeda-Yemen.

Partial Syrian reserve call-up sparks border tension with Israel
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

22 Jan. Friday, Damascus ordered a Level 4 mobilization of Syria's army reserves for deployment to the Golan Heights on the Israeli border to meet what it calls "IDF plans of attack." In Lebanon, too, Hizballah placed "all its forces" in a state of military preparedness.
DEBKAfile: Israel gave both advance reassurance that its military movements were a war game and nothing more. Tehran's hand is detected in their moves to raise tension.
Far from being prompted by IDF war games, Syria and Hizballah are reported by our Iranian and military sources as acting out the secret military cooperation pacts they have just concluded with Tehran. The pacts were negotiated and signed during visits to Damascus by Iran's National Security Adviser Saeed Jalili on Nov. 3 and its defense minister Ahmed Vahidi on Dec. 17.
These treaties commit Syria to come to Hizballah's aid if it comes under Israeli attack, and all three signatories to respond to any Israeli military movement. Our military sources believe Hizballah and Syria acted on Tehran's advice to test their own preparedness for attack.

The need for improvised Manufacture of Explosives (IME) awareness // By James Crippin

Published 29 January 2010

The chemicals terrorists use in improvised explosives are not tracked or controlled for the most part because they are simple, ordinary chemicals which are readily available; millions upon millions of ounces of the liquids as well as pounds of the solids are purchased legally every day worldwide; education and awareness – for law enforcement, the military, and the citizenry -- are the key to addressing this problem

In attack after attack, terrorists have turned to improvised explosive mixtures either as the main charge or as part of the initiation system. They have done this in an attempt to become more “stealthy” in their acquisition of explosive materials to carry out attacks. Many people are under a false impression that this a new tactic employed by terrorists, but this is not the case. These types of explosives have been used by both foreign and domestic terrorists for a while against a variety of targets ranging from individuals to airplanes to large buildings.

One of the most notable instances is the first attack on the World Trade Center on 26 February, 1993. This attack used large quantities of urea nitrate that was manufactured by the terrorists themselves. It was made by nitrating common urea. Another notable instance was the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City, on 19 April 1995. Timothy McVeigh used 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate sensitized with diesel fuel and nitromethane.

In each of these cases the improvised explosive mixture served as the main charge. This held true all the way up to the Bali night club bombing in Indonesia on 12 October 2002. The vehicle bomb that was detonated outside the night clubs after the initial blasts inside the neighboring discos. The explosive component consisted of a pyrotechnic mixture of nitrates and chlorates in addition to other materials. All are easily obtainable and mixable.

There has been a shift, however, to using improvised primary high explosives. These have ranged from using triacetone triperoxide (TATP) as an initiator for other high explosives such as pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) as in the case of shoe bomber Richard Reid (December 2001) attempted bombing, and the more recent attempt by underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bring down NWA flight 253 on Christmas day 2009. Both used a device that contained a base charge of PETN and a TATP initiator. There have also been instances in which these improvised primary high explosives have been used as the main charge as well such as the Hadera, Israel, bus station bombing where a suicide/homicide bomber detonated two kilograms of TATP strapped to his body.

What does this all mean? It means all of us must have our awareness raised when it comes to these types of explosives. It becomes important to recognize not only how easily these materials can be made but also that the vast majority of explosives can be made from common, easily obtainable chemicals.

These chemicals are not tracked or controlled for the most part. How can they be? It is because they are simple ordinary chemicals such as acetone (painting supplies), hydrogen peroxide (cosmetology use), acids (automotive supplies), or ammonium nitrate (farming fertilizer). It is nearly impossible to control these materials because they are so ordinary. It is possible to track them but then we have to ask how much is the “trigger” amount that we will start with. Millions upon millions of ounces of the liquids as well as pounds of the solids are purchased legally every day worldwide.

One way to address these issues is to raise awareness of what is used to make these materials at the civilian or retail level as well as that of law enforcement. Use the resources that we have available instead of trying to create more. Education and awareness are the key to addressing this issue. If education was provided at several different levels, it could help immensely in identifying the individuals who are attempting to make improvised explosives and what they are making.

Currently the only training available is for the military and law enforcement agencies. These classes are conducted on an irregular basis at the request of the participants. There is no education as described above for the general population.

The need for improvised Manufacture of Explosives (IME) awareness // By James Crippin

Published 29 January 2010

The chemicals terrorists use in improvised explosives are not tracked or controlled for the most part because they are simple, ordinary chemicals which are readily available; millions upon millions of ounces of the liquids as well as pounds of the solids are purchased legally every day worldwide; education and awareness – for law enforcement, the military, and the citizenry -- are the key to addressing this problem

There needs to be a coordinated effort made to set-up some type of training program that would be specific for each type of target group. I say this because the training requirements for each group would be unique. For example, the general public needs to know what materials they should look being purchased. What individual would need to purchase 4 or 5 quarts or more of hydrogen peroxide hair treatment? Would someone living in an apartment need 200 pounds of ammonium nitrate? These are simple indicators that most people overlook but would be useful investigative leads to be followed up on before an incident could occur.

With regard to the military or law enforcement the needs are different. They would benefit from attending a class where either they or the instructors actually make examples of the more common improvised explosive mixtures. Although some say this is too dangerous, it is no more dangerous than the practice of having narcotic officers manufacture various types of drugs which is done on a regular basis throughout the United States in training courses set-up specifically for that. This would give the responding military and law enforcement personnel the first hand knowledge they need to recognize what was occurring and how to safely neutralize the ongoing processes. There needs to be education, not fear in this training process. Many times now these personnel are told that these materials are far too dangerous for anyone other than a chemist to deal with. While this may be true in some instances, proper training can dispel these issues.

Education, not ignorance, is the way to combat IME. Knowing what can be used to make these materials, allow us to identify, investigate, and stop their use. We must put into place procedures and policies that are proactive, not reactive. We have to strive to take the imitative away from the terrorist and give to those on the front lines of our defense. We cannot outlaw the materials that are used to make these improvised explosives because they are so common, but we can shine the light on those creeping though the shadows to attack civilized society with IME mixtures.

James Crippin, an internationally recognized expert in explosives, is currently trainer with J3 International Consulting Services in Pueblo West, Colorado. He has been providing IME classes to the military and law enforcement for the last four years.

Stealth data: a new dimension in PC data protection

Published 29 January 2010

Researchers at St. Poelten University of Applied Sciences develop the first viable steganographic solution for windows; data can now be protected better than ever before with the Windows operating system, without leaving the slightest trace or giving away the tiniest hint of its existence

Data concealed using steganography // Source: plus.math.org

As part of a research project, the Institute for IT Security Research at St. Poelten University of Applied Sciences in Poelten, Austria, has developed the first viable Windows-based solution for concealing stored information. The solution will improve data security for governments, companies, and private individuals. The project has also produced systems to defend against attacks using steganographic methods.

There are various ways to keep data on a PC hidden from other users. Conventional methods include access restriction and encryption. There is a distinct disadvantage to these options, however. For hackers and others like them, they are an open invitation to take their best shot. Indeed, the realization that something is protected often acts as a provocation to breach this protection. Steganography — the science of storing or transmitting information secretly — offers a means of removing this provocation. It can be used to ensure that the very existence of specific data remains undetected, thus avoiding any “invitation” to hack into it. Other users have no idea that data is protected as they are completely unaware that the data exists in the first place.

The research project StegIT — Research, Design and Prototype Development of Anti-Steganographic Solutions for Internet Telephony (VoIP) — run by St. Poelten University has now developed Europe’s first viable steganographic solution for the Windows operating system. It allows the “perfect” concealment of data and prevents its subsequent discovery. This development opens up a new range of possibilities that promise major opportunities in areas such as national security and data protection on the Internet. It also brings risks should the system fall into the wrong hands.

Prof. Dr. Ernst Piller, head of the Institute for IT Security Research at St. Poelten, explains how the steganographic solution for Windows works: “Steganographic methods are used to store an entire file system, including files on the hard disk or a memory stick, in existing image or music files so that they are virtually invisible. This file system initially appears on the computer as a virtual storage medium, for example drive F, and can be used in the same way as any other storage medium. As soon as the drive is closed, it disappears and can no longer be found. Not even IT forensics can find it. It only reappears — seemingly out of nowhere — when the software is launched. What’s more, it can only be launched when the user is aware that it is well hidden somewhere on the PC and knows where and how to find it.”

The tool developed by St. Poelten University represents the first ever practicable steganographic solution for Windows. It also opens up significant opportunities for national security. For example, it can be used to ensure sensitive personal data is protected from unauthorized access far better than ever before. Similarly, the tool also offers a means of securely protecting sensitive data in countries where there are restrictions or bans on data encryption. This is of particular interest to companies that operate in such countries. In a world that is becoming networked ever more closely, the stenographic tool also unlocks new opportunities for personal security. For example, it can help to protect sensitive data stored on a home PC from being attacked by hackers.

Stealth data: a new dimension in PC data protection

Published 29 January 2010

Researchers at St. Poelten University of Applied Sciences develop the first viable steganographic solution for windows; data can now be protected better than ever before with the Windows operating system, without leaving the slightest trace or giving away the tiniest hint of its existence

Data concealed using steganography // Source: plus.math.org

The comprehensive StegIT project is not geared solely toward making steganography available for active use in legal applications. Another of its key aims is to provide protection from criminal steganography-based attacks, as Dr. Piller explains: “It is only by acquiring the relevant know-how and making the technical advances in steganographic solutions — as in the case of the Windows application — that we can properly research and implement a defence against criminal activities.” In addition to developing the new Windows application, the StegIT project — which is being supported by KIRAS, the Austrian Security Research Program — has also created viable systems to defend against attacks that employ steganographic methods.

E-passports vulnerable to traceability attacks, allowing real-time tracking of passport holders

Published 29 January 2010

The electronic passports issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and some fifty other countries are vulnerable to “traceability attacks”: hackers can remotely track an e-passport holder in real time without first knowing the cryptographic keys that protect the personal information embedded in the e-passport

A model of an e-passport // Source: strike-the-root.com

Computer scientists in Britain have uncovered weaknesses in electronic passports issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and some fifty other countries that allow attackers to trace the movements of individuals as they enter or exit buildings.

Dan Goodin writes that scientists from University of Birmingham said that the so-called traceability attack is the only exploit of an e-passport that allows attackers remotely to track a given credential in real time without first knowing the cryptographic keys that protect it. What is more, RFID, or radio-frequency identification, data in the passports can not be turned off, making the threat persistent unless the holder shields the government-mandated identity document in a special pouch.

“A traceability attack does not lead to the compromise of all data on the tag, but it does pose a very real threat to the privacy of anyone that carries such a device,” the authors, Tom Chothia and Vitaliy Smirnov, wrote. “Assuming that the target carried their passport on them, an attacker could place a device in a doorway that would detect when the target entered or left a building” (a PDF of the paper is here).

To exploit the weakness, attackers would need to observe the targeted passport as it interacted with an authorized RFID reader at a border crossing or other official location. They could then build a special device that detects the credential each time it comes into range. The scientists estimated the device could have a reach of about twenty inches. “This would make it easy to eavesdrop on the required message from someone as they used their passport at, for instance, a customs post,” the authors wrote.

The attack works by recording the unique message sent between a particular passport and an official RFID reader and later replaying it within range of the special device. By measuring the time it takes the device to respond, attackers can determine whether the targeted passport is within range. In the case of e-passports from France, the process is even easier: electronic credentials from that country will return the error message “6A80: Incorrect parameters” if the targeted person is in range and “6300: no information given” if the person is not.

Goodin writes that the research is only the latest to identify the risks of embedding RFID tags into passports and other identification documents. Last year, information-security expert Chris Paget demonstrated a low-cost mobile platform that surreptitiously sniffs the unique digital identifiers in U.S. passport cards and next-generation drivers licenses. Among other things, civil liberties advocates have warned that those identifiers could be recorded at political demonstrations or other gatherings so police or private citizens could later determine whether a given individual attended.

To be sure, the practicality of traceability attacks is more limited because a targeted passport first must be observed within range of a legitimate reader. Once this hurdle is cleared, however — as would be relatively easy for unscrupulous government bureaucrats to do — the attack becomes a viable way to track a target.

Chothia and Smirnov of the University of Birmingham’s School of Computer Science said the security hole can be closed by standardizing error messages and “padding” response times in future e-passports. This, though, will do nothing to protect holders of more than 30 million passports from more than fifty countries who are vulnerable now, they said.

E-passports vulnerable to traceability attacks, allowing real-time tracking of passport holders

Published 29 January 2010

The electronic passports issued by the United States, the United Kingdom, and some fifty other countries are vulnerable to “traceability attacks”: hackers can remotely track an e-passport holder in real time without first knowing the cryptographic keys that protect the personal information embedded in the e-passport

A model of an e-passport // Source: strike-the-root.com

Goodin notes that this is sure to fuel criticism of RFID-enabled identification. “This is a great example of why e-passports are a bad idea,” Paget wrote in an e-mail to the Register. “It’s simply too expensive to replace vulnerable documents (especially when they have a 10-year lifespan) in response to legitimate security concerns, regardless of their severity. People will continue to poke holes in e-passports; without a mechanism to fix those problems there’s a strong argument that’s we’re better off without the RFID.”

R.I.P., 3-1-1

Government brainiacs rethink the brain scanner so you can fly with all your liquids, gels, sprays, spreads…and so on.

Remember 2005, when you could still board a plane with shampoo in your bag, toothpaste in your purse, a can of soda in your hand? Do those fluid memories hurt right down to your denture cream?

Washington feels your pain. As Snapshots reported in 2008, researchers at the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) have been fine-tuning magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology. By detecting ultralow magnetic fields, the lab’s creation—the Magnetic Vision Innovative Prototype (or MagViz)—can peer through whatever container you’re carrying, divine what’s in it, and let you pass with your bottled water or—during flu season—your hand sanitizer.

The first MagViz was an overachiever. It was programmed to be extremely sensitive, but like the palace sentinel who mistook the princess for a witch, it came off a bit paranoid. It “saw” danger in certain off-brand shampoos and sport drinks. Since then, with funding and guidance from the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T), the LANL team has fine-tuned the technology. MagViz’s Spidey sense now casts a narrower net.

Last year, to test the new model’s selectivity, Department program evaluators planted a minefield of surprise liquids at Albuquerque International Airport. Their faith proved well-placed: Nothing nasty slipped past LANL’s brainchild; MagViz correctly flagged all liquid-bomb ingredients.

At the same time, MagViz gave the green light to all but one friendly fluid. And it withstood everyday mishaps—an outsize bag; a refrigerator magnet from the airport gift shop; a stuck-open door; a false loading, wherein an edgy passenger snatched back her half-inserted purse. (Yup.) On the operator’s display, threats were circled and lit up like Vegas, to the delight of screeners from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

And yet, MagViz’s precision does come with some challenges. In Albuquerque, the prototype had to be shielded from electromagnetic interference radiating from fluorescent ballasts, Wi-Fi laptops—even smartphones. That shielding came in the form of a hulking exoframe that would be too bulky for a real operational setting. To engineer a shielded MagViz in a compact enclosure, the Department will look to the private sector, where ingenuity spells profit.

Envisioning far-reaching applications for the new invention, R&D Magazine recognized the LANL team with a coveted 2009 R&D 100 Award. Such laurels are welcome validators, says MagViz program manager Stephen Surko of S&T’s Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA). But if MagViz is to earn its place behind thousands of X-ray stations, it must catch dangerous liquids reliably, affordably, and swiftly, while flagging few types of liquors as evil spirits.

To this end, Surko is evaluating a variety of concepts of operation. In most, MagViz would be placed immediately behind the X-ray machine, giving each carry-on a second scan. In smaller airports, where the screening area may be too short for a tandem arrangement, MagViz would sit off to the side. “You’d have to wait in a separate line,” concedes Surko, “but at least you could bring along that large bottle of H20.”

MagViz would be a tremendous improvement, but don’t expect miracles. Unlike a fingerprint, nuclear magnetic resonance signatures can vary. If, for example, a liquid is slightly warmer or cooler than expected, or its pH a bit more acidic or basic, the reading can change. “MagViz can see all these differences easily,” says Surko. “We need to learn how well we can predict them and account for them.”

The challenges—accounting for each such variance and shielding MagViz while keeping it trim—may prove a bridge too far. But if the departments of Homeland Security and Energy and the free market can cross each bridge, then traveling with toiletries, snow globes, and drinks may be a thing of the future, rather than the past.

This Just In: On January 21, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) issued a public request (PDF, 4 pages - 41 KB) for ways to commercialize MagViz. If you think you have what this takes, please submit a letter of interest to LANL by February 12.